Sunday, April 28, 2013

"UNDER THE SMOGBERRY TREES" will be an engaging filmed history of “The Dr. Demento Show” from its humble start at revolutionary radio station KPPC-FM in Pasadena, CA and up to date at DrDemento.com, covering the lasting impact of funny music on popular culture, and including current interviews with Dementites (the famous and the nearly famous) connected to and/or inspired by the show over its four decades and counting.Here's a nice picture of Dr. Demento in action.

Luis G. released another beautiful 2CD set on his Hall Of Fame record label.
Disc number two presents the demo: Caballero Reynaldo performing Zappa's "Ruben And The Jets" in Spanish. Solo on acoustic guitar.
Disc number one is the actual album: "Ruben And The Jets" in Spanish, performed by The Grand Kazoo band, with Marieta Tamarit on vocals.

April 20, 2013, music maniacs celebrated Record Store Day.
Beefheart fans were treated to a 'new' album, "Frank Freeman's Dance Club And Other Rarities".
The album got released in a limited and numbered edition of 1.000 copies.
On colored vinyl.
The album includes 8 tracks, 4 of which were taken from the 1968 concert at the Frank Freeman's Dance Club.

The International Street Cannibals is a collective
of acclaimed and untamed instrumentalists, singers, composers, videographers,
audio technicians, dancers, puppeteers and visual artists.The International Street Cannibals (ISC), the
multi-genre new music ensemble of seasoned and exploratory chamber
musicians/composers, directed by Dan Wotan Barrett, and co-directed by Chala
Yancy and guest co-director Joe Gallant, will crown its 2012-13 season with
Hour of The Beast, on Sunday, May 5 at 7:30 p.m.A 2-hour mosaic of short works
plumbing the sensibility of totemistic belief, this butt-kicking event will set
the rawest modes of rock against classic techniques, in an ungovernable melange
of incongruous transcriptions and new music compositions from some of today's
most establishment-unfriendly composers. The course of this incendiary
hullabaloo will usher in the dance components of Megan Sipe and Amanda Mottur,
bellydancer, which will serve to "translate" the music, spatially.
Among the tidbits of this savage musical repast will be renderings of several
Beethoven Bagatelles with piano, belly dance and electro/acoustic ensemble; a
malformed chamber version of Captain Beetheart's "When I See Mommy I Feel
Like A Mummy" with go-go dancer; a
schizo-affective rendering of Sam the Sham and The Pharaohs' "Wooly
Bully"; a recitation, in the original Ionic dialect, accompanied by
tribalistic sonorities, of Homer's Hymn to Demeter; and some solo bijoux by Mr
Kigawa. Hour of The Beast is part of ISC's Holding Tank series, which offers a
mix of traditional and non-traditional chamber works by European masters,
contemporary American composers and satirists, as well as improvised and
semi-staged works exploiting the spatial qualities of venues in novel ways.

Luis G.'s Hall Of Fame record label just released album number eighty !!Congratulations are in place.

And there's more. Album number eighty is a fabulous album by A.L. Guillèn.On "Der Cucamongol Cannabalizer Your Idol", A.L. Guillèn experiments with the music of Frank Zappa. He takes it apart, reduces it, and then puts it back together or converts it into something else.

It's my
pleasure to annonce that Off will reissue digitally all the solo albums from
Pierre (http://www.pierrevervloesem.be/ ) on his P.V.Presents - Digital Only
series. There will also be a reissue of the fabulous Zala Zala album he did
with John Litton Baroï and the never released second album they did together.

All
albums will be remasterised, will have a few new mixes and a lot of unreleased
bonus tracks. They will come as separate downloads and in two boxes for a
bargain price. Be prepared!

There will be another new release on his series as well by Les Boucles
Absurdes. It will be a double album including various guests such as Morgan
Agren and Albert Marcoeur! More details very soon!

Sunday, April 21, 2013

THE
RETURN OF THE SON OF THE UNMATCHED SERIES - SPANISH ZAPPA TRIBUTES

UNMATCHED
VOL. 14 - A.L. GUILLEN

DER
CUCAMONGOL CANNIBALIZES YOUR IDOL

(a
joyful digestion of Frank Zappa)

A.L.
Guillèn (Sefronia, Les Rauchen Verboten, Amatria, etc, etc) is considered one
of the most skilled, personal and daring Spanish composers and guitar players.
With Der Cucamongol cannibalizes your idol (a joyful digestion of Frank Zappa)
he has actually delivered not only a very personal view on the Zappa legacy but
also a most original work as all tracks, although vaguely based in Zappa
tracks, have an identity of their own. We could call it easy-noise music packed
with sounds that add further twists to the already complex original FZ
material. A true masterwork of Spanish avant-garde contemporary music.

UNMATCHED
VOL 15 - CABALLERO REYNALDO & THE GRAND KAZOO

MARIETA
Y LOS JETAS / RUBEN DEMOS

THIS IS
A DOUBLE CD.

Caballero
Reynaldo and his beloved Kazoos' next target is the FZ album Cruising with the
Ruben & The Jets (1968) and they continue with their well-established
policy of avoiding any unnecesary complication while having as much fun as
humanly possible. They strip out the irony of the original record and in their
native Spanish have released a record that will fit perfectly in your
collection, right next to the Grease soundtrack.

The
original idea of what was to become "Marieta y los Jetas" was a solo
album by Caballero Reynaldo but it soon grew so insanely big and expensive that
he called the Kazoos to join him. Part 2 of this double cd is comprised of the
original demos by Caballero Reynaldo and his notorious love for the original
and his well-known English language limitations...

"Chromoscope" is a journey through Peter's 20 years of home recording. Fragments of songs and transformed melodies and instruments are presented in one big almost psychedelic mix.
The result is quite impressive.

During his 1988 "Broadway The Hard Way" tour, the late Frank Zappa performed and recorded quite a number of compositions by other artists. Remember the Beatles-medley, Ravel's 'Bolero', not forgetting 'Stairway To Heaven' or 'Hey Joe'.
Andrew Greenaway celebrates the 25th anniversary of this 1988 tour by releasing an extraordinary sampler.
"On Broadway" presents 15 artists that perform a song that has been covered by FZ in 1988.
Among these artists, we find a lot of musicians that are quite familiar with the Zappa Universe: J21, Doubt, Caballero Reynaldo, Chato Segerer, Alan Jenkins, The Low Budget Research Kitchen, The Vegetarians, and many more.

An excellent idea that lead to a fine album. Some of the interpretations are a bit cheesy, but there's some superb stuff on there as well.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

The Residents are offering "The Coochie Brake Suite" for sale through their Download Robot System.

"The Residents present Sonidos de la Noche CB Suite (37:00) A Charles Bobuck Contraption with guest: N. Cook CB Suite is a rethinking of the acclaimed Coochie Brake album, distilled and refocussed, aligned to a template set by other recent Bobuck abstract recordings. Charles originally envisioned CB as an extension of the style set forth on The Ughs, earthy and organic. Early reports even had it pegged as a kind of Ughs 2. But the project changed as it was developed. This suite returns more to the original thinking of being Ugly. Not Ugly as in repulsive, as this version is possibly more seductive in its alien beauty than the original Ughs album or Coochie Brake. If you liked Coochie Brake you will find this a worthy addition to your collection, expanding on the music to give you a new way of appreciating the swampy compositions."

The Lost Tapes is a music documentary film tracing the roots and history
of this iconic musical legend. It features rare live and studio performances of
The Captain and his Magic Band.Date of release: June 4, 2013.

Todd Grubbs released his fourth solo album in 2008. "Time, Space and the Electric" is one of my favourite Todd Grubbs albums. This is instrumental guitar music at its best. The album is more rock oriented than his previous discs and it sounds great.
Data has been added to the United Mutations Archives.

Zappa and Mothers fans should know that Don Preston plays an outer space moog solo on 'You Are Here'.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

The Sun
Ra Arkestra under the direction of Marshall Allen will open its 2013 World Tour
with a concert as part of the 28th FMX Festival de Mexico in the Teatro de la
Ciudad on Wednesday, May 15, 2013 at 8:30 pm. The Arkestra will headline this
May 15 show, which also presents the Cosmic Brujo Mutafuka Trio. The FMX
Festival de Mexico features programming sections in Aural, Music, Dance,
Theater, Literature, Folk, Animation, and Childrens.

Let me take a minute to tell you how much I liked reading Tom Brown's "Confesstions Of A Zappa Fanatic".

Tom Brown is featured on The Grandmothers' "Lookin' Up Grannie's Dress" album. Tom played the drums in Zoogz Rift band. Tom worked at Rhino Records where he compiled the Beat The Boot series.

These are not just mere facts in my appreciation of Frank Zappa's (and Zoogz) music. These are landmarks.

In "Confessions Of A Zappa Fanatic", Tom shares his experiences. Because of the various links to the people, the albums and the music that are also part of my musical world, I find it very easy to relate to his stories. It's so close to my perception that it's likeTom was sitting next to me while I was reading his book.

After his two first album, "Combination" (1994) and "Beautiful Device" (2004), Todd released a disc called "Toddities". It's a first in a series of albums that collects material that he doesn't see fit on his regular, normal albums.
The biggest part of "Toddities Volume 1" consists of songs from two cassette only E.P.'s., and there's also four new tunes.
I like it.

There's nothing like adding great pictures to the United Mutations Archives.
Here's a collection of shots that I got from my friends at the Czech Zappa Fan Club.Added them to the Frank Zappa "Oddities" section.

These wall clocks were made by Slavka Prevendarcikova (who lives in Bratislava, Slovakia).

Layla Zoe performed Frank Zappa's 'Lucille Has Messed My Mind Up' a capella
at the Yard Club in Cologne, Germany, on April 8, 2011, during a concert of The Muffin Men
(with special guest Denny Walley).

The track got broadcast on WUSB's "Zappathon" radio show on
2013/04/14.

John
Tabacco and Nigey Lennon host "Zappathon" at WUSB,
Stony Brook, NY between Noon to Midnight ! You can listen online at
http://wusb.org/. The entire broadcast is also archived online for the
following week.

I first heard about Todd Grubbs when Andrew Greenaway mentioned the artists that were participating on his "20 Extraordinary Renditions" Zappa tribute album. Must have been around 2006.
Todd Grubbs is a guitar player. Actually, he's a great guitar player. And he's also a guitar teacher and a composer. If you fancy instrumental guitar music à la Jeff Beck, Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, this will be most probably be right up your alley as well.
"Combination" was Todd's first album. It got released in 1994 and presents 11 impressive tracks.

Data added to the United Mutations Archives.
CD available from CDBaby.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Mike Keneally's latest album, "Wing Beat Elastic" arrived today. I had listened to the download a couple of times already, but I still prefer listening to the album and reading the liner notes while I have the album in my hands.Beautiful.
As the record cover says: "Remixes, demos & unheard music".
I love it.

'Last Shop Standing - The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of
the Independent Record Shop'

Based on the bestselling book of the same name by
Graham Jones, Last Shop Standing documents the story of that much-beloved but
tragically endangered British institution: the independent record shop.

The highly praised film features music from
independent bands, was financed by independent music fans and is made by an
independent film company. We are proud that Last Shop Standing is the official
film of Record Store Day 2013 which takes place on April 20th.

Record Shops all over the world are organising
screenings of the film on the run up to RSD. So far over 80 record shops have
organised their own screenings.

Blue Hippo Media and Proper Music Publishing are
delighted to announce three monumental steps in the ongoing journey of the
film:

* We have secured a broadcast deal with Sky Arts that
will see the film aired on two prime time slots tied in with Record Store Day. Scheduled
for Friday 19th April at 9pm and Saturday 20th April at 5pm.

* A new Deluxe edition of the DVD will be released at
the same time. Beware - there are Deluxe editions and there are Deluxe
editions! This is the real deal with an extra 74 minutes of footage including
extended interviews with Johnny Marr, Richard Hawley, Billy Bragg ,Paul Weller
Sid Griffin and others, along with record shop owners telling funny anecdotes
about life behind the record shop counter. None of this will be shown on the TV
broadcast and is exclusive to the DVD. The physical DVD will be available
initially only through independent record shops taking part in Record Store Day
2013.

* At the same time the Deluxe edition will be launched
in Canada and the USA through our friends at Conveyor and MVD with the USA
premiere being held across the country in independent record shops during the
week before RSD.

After a
4 year stint as the hard working bassist in ZAPPATiKA, Ingo "The Kid"
Oosterbaan (23) will play his last show with the band on June 8th in Stockholm
when ZAPPATiKA perform at violinist Ke's wedding.

The Kid is now deeply involved in music
studies and has his eye on some new projects, so, with no animosity, but a
little sadness, ZAPPATiKA will bid him farewell.

Auditions
for the new Bass player begin this weekend (23 March) and the band already has
a few very good potential new recruits lined up to show their skills in the
rehearsal rooms.

The successful applicant will be announced as soon as a final decision
has been made !

Sunday, April 7, 2013

During the summer of 2012, Markus Stauss put his Spaltklang project on hold.
As he explains on his website:"The size of the group, a 6
piece outfit, the musicians' very different availabilities and therefore very
individual schedules, made it impossible to continue the rehearsals on a
regular basis."
A couple of days ago, however, a nice message arrived at the United Mutations Headquarters. Markus Stauss has re-arranged the Spaltklang pieces (originally intended for a sextet) for a quintet.
You know what this means.
Spaltklang is back !!The new line-up includes a new trumpet player and a new guitarist, and a new release is scheduled for September.

By the way, did you know that Spaltklang's drummer, Rémy Sträuli is also the drummer for Fido Plays Zappa?

MF Doom (MC) and Madlib (beats) are Madvillain.
Their 2004 album "Madvillainy" included a Zappa sample. Track 3, 'Meat
Grinder', starts with a repeated 'Sleeping In A Jar' sample.I learned earlier today that 2004 also saw the release of "Madvillainy Instrumentals", a 2LP instrumental version of the album. It got released in a generic sleeve on the same label (Stones Throw Records).This instrumental album got rereleased in 2011. This time with artwork / an album cover.Both of these albums included the Zappa sample.

Also we are also pleased to announce that we gonna offer you Nigey
Lennon's album "Reinventing The Wheel" with bonus track. Both - 'RTW'
and 'Stolen Cadillac' will be available for download after our website has been
redesigned - we keep you posted and more details follow.....

Saturday, April 6, 2013

In
addition to Paul B's movies of the Mike Keneally concert in Tilburg, here's his
recording of the Koh I Noor saxophone quartet.
Also at the 'Paradox' in Tilburg.Performing Mike Keneally's 'Metrolinofenagea'.2013 03 27

March 29, 2013, jazz and alternative music club 'Paradox' in Tilburg was the place to be for fans of Mike Keneally's music. I saw friends from Sweden, Germany, The Netherlands & Belgium. Fun!Godsticks opened with 45 minutes of prog rock. They were followed by Koh I Noor, a Dutch saxophone quartet.A couple of years ago, Dutch national radio NPR had commissioned two musicians / composert to write a piece. The artists were Steve Vai and Mike Keneally.Koh I Noor performed the world premier of the Mike Keneally piece, entitled 'Metrolinofenagea'.Picture taken by Philippe Lamoot.

Frido
ter Beek: soprano sax

Michiel
van Dijk: alto sax

Sander
Beumer: tenor sax

Marc
Scholten: baritone sax

The piece was pretty impressive. An audience audio recording is up at Zappateers, but it was recorded by Co de Kloet for broadcast on Dutch Radio 6 as well!!Next up was the Mike Keneally Band.The complete gig will be broadcast by Co de Kloet on Radio 6 as well.I loved it. It was great. Thank you, Mike Keneally. And thank you, Co de Kloet !!(picture by Philippe Lamoot)

Guitarist
extraordinaire GARY LUCAS just signed
with Brooklyn-based label NORTHERN SPY RECORDS for the September release of his
new album "CINEFANTASTIQUE".
The album features solo arrangements of music from classic films by Jacques
Tati, Alfred Hitchcock, Federico Fellini, Bela Tarr, Werner Herzog, and many others, and also includes excerpts
from Gary Lucas' fantastic film scores for the 1931 Spanish "Dracula"
and Rene Clair's "Entr'acte".

The
release of Gary's new album coincides with the Sept. publication in the UK and
US of his new book "Touched by Grace--My Time with Jeff Buckley" via Jawbone
Press.

Friday, April 5, 2013

My favourite Eye Balled Band, The Residents, finished their U.S. tour a little while ago. The European leg of their tour will start in a couple of weeks.
To everyone's delight, the band is bringing some new and re-newed goodies along.

Both "Lonely Teenager" and "Coochie Brake" have been released in an excellent looking digipack.The "Wonder Of Weird - 40the Anniversary" stamp is present on the inside of the package.